Triple-Linked Crane Wings
by Araslan
Summary: With the visions of a fire that left no survivors, Kiritsugu Emiya left the Fuyuki Fire as a broken man. Yet, in his desperation, he reached out to grab hold of the last fragments of what he had left. An AU in which Shirou dies in the Fuyuki Fire. OLD VERSION; SEE 'PRISMATIC ILLUSION' FOR REWRITE.
1. Prologue: Equivalency

**Author's Note:**

 **OK, I'm kinda new to writing fanfiction. Honestly, I've thrown some stuff around before, but nothing too fancy.**

 **Who knows? This might go somewhere. But given that my word count sucks, IDK.**

 **I got into Fate recently, and this idea had me thinking. So, I decided to start with this. If it's OK, I'll continue.**

 **Please review! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fate. The folks at Type-Moon do, and they do a good job of it.**

* * *

 **Fate/prismatic illusion**

 **Prologue: Equivalency**

Death.

Death was in the air.

Screams of pain and anguish, sorrow and agony, all of them pierced the burning landscape amidst the crackling fires. Unrelenting, the embers laid waste to the new hell that was the Holy Grail incarnate cursing the ground it was summoned upon.

Bones and flesh were gnawed at by the fire, falling into the maelstrom of desth that was the Great Fuyuki Fire. Memories, both immaterial and alive, were engulfed and thrown into the conflagration.

And as everything burned and even Gaia herself tried to put out the unholy inferno, a boy wept.

The boy trekked through the inferno, even through his pain and the infernal heat. With a sob, he staggered along the charred and singed ruins of the house that once stood.

Suddenly, he fell, tripping over a toppled tree, a small one which numbered among the many that had once lined and dotted the neighborhood.

He could feel the heat eating away at his skin; with each passing step, it hurt more and more. Despite being a child, Shirou Aoki completely understood, through his dulled senses that had saw death, that he was about to die.

Struggling to recover from the setback leaving him with another set of third-degree burns, Shirou's legs failed him. He crumbled into the abyss of death, crying to himself as his mind tried to process every image of flames and destruction he was immersed by.

Starting in small teardrops, the tears stabilized into a slow, but steady stream of anguish and loss.

He cried, thinking about Mama and Papa who had told Shirou to run as his home collapsed and burned like a handful of kindling. He cried, thinking about his sister, who was playing at a friend's house in the same neighborhood, the house collapsing minutes after his entire life was erased by flickers of bright orange and red. To him, those minutes seemed like an eternity, and he cried even more, as he lost feeling in his limbs, vaguely understanding and accepting of his fate.

And as his eyes slowly blurred, seemingly trying to block out the imagery of horror that had pervaded his very being, the heart of hearts that Shirou Aoki possessed accepted that everyone was truly gone.

The moment that Shirou Aoki's soul surrendered to the flames, the pendulum of destiny was swung.

* * *

 _"For want of a thought, a soul was lost.  
For want of a soul, a heart was shattered."_

* * *

If Kirei Kotomine were alive and well to see a show displaying Kiritsugu's reactions to the fiery blaze, Kirei may have very well choked while laughing.

The slight hint of humor that had found its way into Kiritsugu's subconsciousness was immediately extinguished by the next scene of destruction.

The fire was gone here. The rain that pattered the ground did nothing to put out the flames, but instead highlighted the hopelessness that Kiritsugu started to feel after waking up.

In this particular stretch of ruin, five bodies laid, terribly burnt. Even Kiritsugu in his desperation and longing that there was someone he could save in the ruins and ashes of the fire realized that these people were already dead.

Yet, for no particular reason, he slowly analyzed the bodies, trying to hear or see, just to _find_ signs of life among the living hell.

After looking at four of the bodies, he noticed one laid on the ashes, its head turned to the side.

Suddenly, he saw the rubble twitch. Barely noticeable to the human eye, Kiritsugu Emiya was not human.

And with all his strength, he rushed towards the body.

He _heard_ the weak, irregular heartbeat.

* * *

 _"Time Alter: Triple Stagnate!"_

* * *

He saw the body- no, the _boy_ 's chest rise a bit.

* * *

 _"...hm."_

 _Then gunshots flew in the world of mirrors._

* * *

Frantically, he pulled out Avalon, trying to be as brief and quick as possible. If he succeeded, he would _save_ someone. He would-

As he pushed Avalon into the boy, he saw the holy light of the scabbard of the fae shine brilliantly.

Just as he had hoped for, the boy's wounds slowly started to close. As the light glided across the boy's body, slowly forming a sort of bandage, Kiritsugu slowly tried to wake him up.

He motioned to the boy, trying to stimulate the boy's senses.

"Hey, wake up. You'll be OK."

Nothing.

He nudged the boy, whose glazed copper eyes were unmoving.

"Hey, wake up."

Even as Avalon's light faded, Kiritsugu started to forcefully nudge the boy's body.

"Wake up."

And then, his anger overtook his common sense.

"WAKE UP!"

Suddenly, Kiritsugu felt a pit in his stomach beginning to form. He tried to feel for a heartbeat on the boy.

 _It was gone._

Kiritsugu's heart thumped.

 _No, I was too late._

Another thump.

Avalon, The Ever-Distant Utopia. _That which is unnatural or unholy, return to what it once was._

Pressure filled his chest.

 _I...couldn't save...a single...life?_

A light chuckle came.

Kiritsugu Emiya's restraints had broke.

The chuckle turned into a crescendo of laughter. It was the unnatural laughter of an implacable man, a man whose mind of steel finally shattered.

Kiritsugu Emiya fell onto the pile of ashes lining the ground with his hands and knees, as the rain muted the Magus Killer's mad laughter.

And when that cacophony of sound ended, Kiritsugu's face fell into his hands, which straddled the ground.

And when the reprieve consisting of ambient raindrops and panting ended, the Magus Killer haphazardly raised his head.

And screamed.

* * *

 _"For want of a lost heart, a dream was remembered.  
For want of a dream, all he saw was an illusion."_

* * *

 **TWO WEEKS LATER**

"Hello?"

A knock on the door.

No, less a knock and more a person trying to get in.

"Is there anybody in there?"

Silence greeted the voice.

"Well then," the voice seemingly fumbled around a set of keys. The door started to slide open.

"I'll just have to drop this off for Kiri-"

Taiga froze. The bags that she were carrying fell onto the wooden floor of the _genkan_. As she looked closer, she saw the mess that had engulfed both the dining room and the kitchen. Littered with dishes and God-knows-what-else, the table was a far cry from its usual cleanliness and maintenance, even out of alignment.

As she looked for how and why the house had ended up looking like the aftermath of an earthquake ripping through it, she muttered to herself. "What in the world...?"

Suddenly, as she marched down the hall, Taiga saw a figure to the left. Immediately with heightened senses, she looked inside the room.

With a dull gaze that seemed to be present yet unfeeling, Kiritsugu Emiya looked at Taiga. Taiga, before acknowledging this, noted the large amounts of tissues scattered across the bedroom's floor. She also noted the presence of two rather long bandages lining Kiritsugu's arms.

As Taiga looked at Kiritsugu, she was in shock. She had no words, absolutely unprepared to see Kiritsugu, her longtime friend, in such a condition all so suddenly.

Hoarsely, Kiritsugu tried to clear the mood with an uninspired quip.

"I think this is what people nowadays call 'looking like shit'."

* * *

Kiritsugu struggled to get out of the futon. Feebly, he repeatedly tried to rise and walk to the dining room, while Taiga was preparing a meal for him, but his physical strength failed him.

"Here, Kiri."

Taiga lent a hand to Kiritsugu, who staggered as he walked. Slowly, with Taiga's help, he was able to reach the dining room and sit down. He could smell the refreshing scent of soup permeating the air, a small part of life he missed.

"Geez, what happened to you?" Taiga handed him a bowl of miso soup and a bowl of rice, which he was barely able to place on the table. "First, you say that you'll be gone for a week. And then, no one sees you for another week! Everyone was worried about you, even Grandpa!"

"Nothing much. I just happened to get a nasty cold, that's all." He tasted the soup. Then, he motioned to Taiga. "This is pretty good."

Suddenly, Taiga turned around, with more than a hint of anger in her voice. "Don't change the subject, Kiri!"

She softened, as she saw Kiritsugu flinch at that. "Seriously, I'm worried about you. How in the hell does a cold cause you to injure both of your arms? A cold doesn't make you look like crap all of a sudden."

Kiritsugu cursed under his breath, as he thought. Then, he started to talk.

"Remember what happened two weeks ago?"

"Of course I do, you dummy." Taiga teased. Yet, deep inside, she couldn't help but start to feel unease building up in the air.

Kiritsugu began to mouth a reply after finishing his soup, but then stopped himself. There was a moment of silence.

Taiga was suddenly scared.

"...in the direct aftermath of the Shinto Fire, I went to go look for survivors."

Her eyes shot wide open, her hands coming together over her horrified expression of shock.

"So...so those injuries..."

"No, they're from something else."

Taiga sighed. "Thank God."

"Taiga," Kiritsugu caught her attention, as he looked down, "the reason why I haven't spoke with anyone in 13 days isn't because of what happened to me."

"It's what happened to _them_."

And the moment that Kiritsugu Emiya says this, Taiga realizes the full extent of his words, his actions.

 _So he went all the way out into the fire, just to find someone, and he found no one._ Taiga thought for a second. _No wonder why he's been so reclusive. I know that his dream was silly, but to think he would actually try..._

"And what I failed to do."

When Kiritsugu looked back at Taiga, tears streamed down his face.

"I could have saved them. I could have saved them. I could have saved..."

He broke down, and started crying into Taiga's arms. She comforted him, even as the dissonance between the warm afternoon air and the stone of guilt being lagged behind himself grew.

She was truly the last person he could rely upon, even in his weakest moments.

* * *

 _"For want of an illusion, a prism was forged.  
For want of a prism, the crane wings flew."_

* * *

 **WOW**

 **That went better than expected. Let me know if you have any criticisms right now. I'm a Type-N00b, at least in comparison to some other writers out there, so I appreciate any comments/review made.**

 **Thank you! :)**


	2. Chapter 1: Armory

**Author's Note:**

 **I've never been great with review responses like some of the greats, so I'll keep the umbrella statement brief: this is an Illya-centric fic.**

 **While the Prologue and first few chapters focus a lot on Kiritsugu, it's not like he's going to be a Master in the 5HGW. Kiritsugu is still cursed by Angra Mainyu, so he's running on limited time, and getting Illya back will only accelerate (lol great pun) the process of dying.**

 **Of course...there are always deus ex machinas waiting to be unveiled. :p**

 **Snark and spoilers aside, another point: the parallels to original F/SN.**

 **If I ever get to writing multiple routes, I assure you that some elements might be pretty damn similar. I have planning, but it doesn't get you anywhere if you can't transform it into a story. Even then, I'm still relatively new to the Nasuverse, so I'm probably going to get something wrong regardless.**

 **And with that out of the way, my (obligatory) begging:**

 **Please review. As a Type-Noobie, I'm trying to stay as accurate to the systems of the Nasuverse as I can. Constructive criticism is fine, and helps me to revise my plans if needed.**

 **Anyways, final snippet: disclaimer!**

 **I DON'T OWN THE FATE SERIES. FATE IS THE PROPERTY OF TYPE-MOON.**

* * *

 **Triple-Linked Crane Wings**

 **Chapter 1: Armory**

 **A YEAR LATER**

The sun fell.

The leaves rustled in the wind, distant lights glowing with a palette of colors.

The moon rose.

Full, and with a sort of regal luminescence, it shone like a star in the night skies of Fuyuki.

When the faraway toil of an iron bell faintly radiated in the background, Kiritsugu Emiya entered a black limousine in front of his home. Carrying a suitcase, he had no farewell for his home, neither verbally or physically, as he turned his mind to steel.

Even as the black limousine faded into the night like a great beast in the murky depths of the sea, cruising along the roads of Fuyuki to its destination, Narita International Airport, the mind of Kiritsugu Emiya radiated burning steel.

In the limousine, Kiritsugu Emiya dreamed.

* * *

He dreamed of the moment that _she_ would see his smile, ragged and decrepit as it might be.

He dreamed of the moment that he could finally see _her_ smile again.

He dreamed of a moment that, even through the last moments of his life of pain, he knew that it had served a purpose.

A purpose, one that he kept clawing for despite appearing unattainable.

If Kiritsugu Emiya couldn't save everyone, he could at least save someone.

He could save the light that had vanished when Irisviel von Einzbern died. He could save the last remaining trace of love that hadn't been incinerated by flames or shadows.

He _would_ save Illyasviel von Einzbern, with his mind turned to steel, and a heart of iron.

And there was no turning back from hell.

* * *

He fought.

" _Uk-_ "

Steel flew across the room's breeze, implanting itself squarely into the Russian magus' temple, killing him instantly.

* * *

He fought.

With a kick, the assassin was sent fluttering down the elevator shaft.

"1st floor, please."

* * *

And he fought.

" _Emiya!_ This is the moment I've been waiting for! Ever since-"

 _Time Alter..._

A revolver, loaded with an Origin Bullet, appeared.

"-you killed my-"

 _...Double Accel._

And as the target's body convulsed, the brief flash of light that appeared in the magus' hands disappearing completely.

Avalon shone, even as Kiritsugu Emiya's body burned.

* * *

 **ONE MONTH LATER**

He staggered, yet carried on.

With the looks of what observers would call a 'dead man walking', Kiritsugu Emiya limped to the car with a briefcase, where he had arranged for an old contact to drive him to the heart of his dream.

His signature coat in tatters, he slid into the sedan. The car was utilitarian, bland as it might be, and its dull grey shine reflected this.

As Kiritsugu sighed, cold and tired, he took in the atmosphere. Smoky, with the smell of cigarettes, and a distinct smell of some kind of liquor.

 _The same old song for the last dance, huh?_ Kiritsugu bitterly thought.

He brooded, as the driver of the car looked at the rear-view mirror. With an expression of surprise that Kiritsugu ignored, he turned around to look at the nearly decrepit Magus Killer.

"Shit, is that actually you, Emiya?"

The sound of a revolver loading reverberated throughout the car.

"So it really is you, huh?" The driver sighed, Kiritsugu unable to tell whether it was one of relief or exasperation.

"I wouldn't call you at 3 AM in the morning on a Tuesday morning asking you if you could pick me up without a reason."

"Ah, the smartass that we all know and love."

The revolver clicked, and a feeling of tension began to grow.

"...how fast do you need to get to the mansion?"

The revolver was drawn back.

"As soon as possible."

"I can get there in about-"

The driver was interrupted by the sound of gunfire in the distance. The sound of steel whizzing only increased, the driver altering his sentence in an instant."

"-I'd say 40 minutes, if we take the fastest route."

"That's too much time."

"Wh-what Emiya?! I might be a good driver, but there's no way in hell I can drive through a goddamn-"

The revolver was back, this time at the back of his neck. When the driver turned to look at Kiritsugu, there was only a look of pure insanity and rage, constrained by the cold demeanor that Kiritsugu put out. He was suddenly terrified, despite being a decently accomplished assassin and robber himself.

"Drive through the forest. That way, even if the car crashes before we need it to, we'll still be in range. We'll just have to adjust the arrival time."

"I thought you just said that it takes too much time!"

"Exactly. Because the road winds."

Kiritsugu moved the revolver.

"And the forest is an illusion."

* * *

The drive ended up being much quicker than either of them had anticipated.

With knowledge that the Bounded Field created an illusion of an icy forest, Kiritsugu and his driver practically flew in the car down the icy plains.

"Emiya."

"Yes, Ender?"

"I'm not exactly an idiot when it comes to your craft and all, but..."

Ender pointed to the golems charging directly towards the car.

"What the _fuck_ are those?!"

Kiritsugu looked outside. After a brief glance, he pulled out a submachine gun from the connection to the trunk.

"Just home security."

He suddenly switched the gun's target from a golem right behind the car, to the windshield.

"You might wanna protect your eyes." The warning was clear as day, as Kiritsugu began to fire the gun.

The streams of bullets came barreling through the windshield, as it shattered. Ender drove, despite the pieces of glass falling onto his arms and legs, and watched in awe, as Kiritsugu's submachine gun took out the golems through sheer force and speed.

In the far distance, Kiritsugu could see the mansion.

"Ender, once I get the brick, jump out of the car with my briefcase."

" _What?_ "

Kiritsugu hoisted a brick, used for the sole intention of crashing the car. He threw the brick at the acceleration pedal, causing the car to reach its top speed.

Hurrying, he grabbed his briefcase, his revolver, and checked that his coat was able to conceal his weapons.

"Here!"

Ender opened the driver's door, and jumped out onto the ice. Using the bits of magecraft that he knew and used in his line of work, he Reinforced his hands and feet, so that they wouldn't automatically break upon hitting the ice.

Meanwhile, Kiritsugu, with all of his tools and weapons readied, also followed suit, coat fluttering in the winter wind.

As the car kept with its collision course, Kiritsugu fired at the other golems that had shadowed him and Ender. They were easily gunned down, though it was harder due to not having the advantage of moving.

The moment that Kiritsugu had turned around and Ender had managed to find his bearings, a large explosion of orange flame and black smoke burned in the distance.

When Ender saw him slowly walking towards the Einzbern mansion, he saw none of the staggering or limping that had characterized and punctuated Kiritsugu Emiya's odyssey to Germany.

He didn't see the Magus Killer hellbent on taking the kill.

He didn't see a dead man walking towards the light.

What he saw was a father willing to lay down his life to save his daughter, for a hollow dream.

* * *

Jubastacheit von Einzbern looked at the female homunculus who relayed the information that he had already known.

"The inner Bounded Field has been breached."

Immediately, only one person came to mind as to who would have the resources and drive to storm the mansion.

 _Kiritsugu Emiya._

"Order the combat homunculi to surround the breach. If Praila cannot defeat the Magus Killer, move Illyasviel to the chapel."

"Understood."

"And finally." The Old Man of the Einzberns icily ordered, with a hint of anger present. "Do not, I repeat, _do not_ let Kiritsugu Emiya reach Illyasviel. If you find that he has taken possession of her, I grant you permission to detonate the entire mansion."

"Understood."

With no emotion, the homunculus gracefully exited the study.

As Jubastacheit looked outside to view the conflagration burning outside, bitterness rose in his very being.

 _Kiritsugu Emiya, you will not take away what I've spent my entire life searching for ever again!_

* * *

Breaching the Bounded Field was surprisingly easy, at least compared to a situation where he was forced to breach it alone.

With Ender's money, combined with Kiritsugu's skill and knowledge about breaking into Bounded Fields, the two were able to create an opening through the Einzberns' Bounded Field.

Kiritsugu's briefcase contained 4 small knifes, bought by Ender for a small fortune just for this moment. While they would normally serve as ineffective weapons due to their size and grip, their main property and selling point was not that.

Instead, it was the passive presence of a potent anti-magecraft spell from the Age of the Gods on each knife that would sear a hole into the winter labyrinth.

Using the knife, Kiritsugu stabbed one knife into the Bounded Field. Then, to the first knife's left, he stabbed another knife into the Field.

The 3rd knife was stabbed over the first two, forming a rather tall triangle. Finally, with the 4th knife, Kiritsugu carved lines between all three points the knifes were embedded in. When the final line was completed, the space of Bounded Field that was encased within the triangle shattered.

Even with the resources and knowledge to breach the Field, it was a 'painstaking' process to actually enter the triangle.

"Oi, Emiya! Why is the triangle so small?"

Kiritsugu didn't respond, but did motion for Ender to dive through.

Ender sighed, and dove, hands first into the breach.

As Kiritsugu had intended and hoped, Ender was able to reach the other side.

"Here."

Kiritsugu threw his suitcase to Ender through the hole. Then, he ran, and jumped through the triangle.

 _He was finally here._

* * *

Illyasviel von Einzbern was in a state of confusion as her grandfather's maids took her by the arms, all the way down to the chapel.

"Why are we here?"

It was a simple question, but one that the maids were not willing to go into detail.

"Master wishes to hide you."

"But why?"

The quintessential question that every child asks.

"There is an intruder in the mansion. He is very dangerous, and Master fears that he wishes to do you harm."

"W-what?"

"Mistress Illyasviel, please stay here." One of the maids hoisted her lance, while the other wielded a heavy, elongated blade. Diagonally crossing each other's weapons, the two walked out of the chapel, and closed the door.

As Illyasviel von Einzbern sat in the darkness, she cried, momentarily breaking the icy mask that her grandfather had crafted for her.

* * *

"Emiya!"

Ender was starting to reconsider completing the mission he was on.

On one hand, he owed Kiritsugu over tenfold for what the costs of the knifes were for the amount of times that he helped out, both on-mission and off-mission, when the two were still full-time assassins and hitmen. When Kiritsugu was still in the business and had his peak reputation as the Magus Killer, the two were well-acquainted, with Ender having more the pragmatic type of personality, and Kiritsugu the idealistic.

Now though, things were different.

Ender had grown out of the business, and settled down. He had a wife and children, and became an upstanding member of society. On the other hand, Kiritsugu had practically vanished off the face of the Earth after the Einzberns had hired him 10 years prior.

Now, here the Magus Killer was: broken, hopeless, and everything anathema to his principles before the so-called 'Holy Grail War' had broken him down.

And yet, he still held on to a dream-

* * *

" _-i_ _f I can save just one life-_ "

* * *

-that was so cheesy and idealistic that Ender had almost laughed him off the phone after Kiritsugu had called at 3 AM in the morning, asking if Ender could drive him to the Einzbern estate.

If he'd known that doing so would result in him crashing his car into a magical wall, or him fighting an opponent who would beat the ever-loving shit out of him, he would have considered the other hand.

Instead, though, instead of eating breakfast with his wife, he was locked into combat with one of the Einzberns' combat homunculi.

From what he could hear, this was the Einzberns' best combat homunculus. Praila, despite being of short stature compared to the other Einzbern homunculi, really did pack a punch.

He barely held back a choke, as his chest was punched by Praila.

Ender was never a fighter. Even during his time as an assassin and hitman, he worked in the shadows, specializing in breaking into complexes and discreet methods of assassination.

Hand-to-hand combat was never a skill he practiced.

Inwardly, he regretted it, as he practically flailed around trying to block Praila's punches.

The only thing that had allowed him to even put up a resistance to Praila's punches and kicks was his usage of Reinforcement on his whole body. Sure, it sapped his already low mana, but it was better distracting the main threat among the homunculi than letting Kiritsugu get thrown around like a rag doll.

Suddenly, Praila's fist started glowing. In an instant, Ender moved to dodge, barely avoiding the prana-enhanced punch that would have torn through even his Reinforcement.

He hoped that Kiritsugu was having better luck.

* * *

Kiritsugu was not a zealous magus that sought for Akasha, but he inwardly thanked the Root that Ender was distracting Praila.

Because at the moment, he had to deal with 4 combat homunculi.

They were all physically powerful, comparable to the _priest_ and his physical ability. They all wielded various weapons: one donned a large axe, while another had a longsword. Another held a spear, and yet another a mace.

In the moments that he assessed them, Kiritsugu came up with a plan.

First, the axewoman.

 _Time Alter: Double Accel!_

In his state, he could only maintain Time Alter in short bursts of time. Even with Avalon, using Triple Accel would inevitably destroy his body.

So, he worked with what he had.

In the world of slowed time, Kiritsugu Emiya pulled out 5 knifes, and threw them at the axewoman.

Even with their freakishly enhanced endurance, the knifes would tear through the axewoman, killing her instantly.

 _Three opponents to go._

The world of Time Alter continued. Quickly, Kiritsugu pulled out a short blade that would incapacitate the macewoman.

In 12 slashes, the macewoman was unable to use her arms or legs.

 _Two opponents to go._

Time Alter finally faded, and Kiritsugu found himself fighting a whirlwind and a gale.

The small blade he had was sufficient, but not enough to truly land a killing blow unless he used Time Alter again.

 _No...I'll have to use my guns._ _I can't use the Origin Rounds on the homunculi. However..._

Pulling out his signature Thompson Contender, he wielded his blade in his left hand. With the blade locked in combat against the swordswoman, he fired the Contender.

While the swordswoman tried to dodge, the bullet pierced her brain, killing her instantly.

Even with the incredible durability of combat homunculi, they still operationally functioned like humans. A normal shotgun round, especially one fired from Kiritsugu's Contender, would be fatal to anyone, human or homunculi.

 _One opponent to go._

The spearwoman was incredibly agile. Repeatedly, Kiritsugu was forced to dodge the spear, as he tried to gain distance or land a blow against the spearwoman.

 _Using my guns would be useless. I need to find a way to remove that spear._

Suddenly, Kiritsugu had an idea.

Allowing the spear to come towards him, he activated his ability.

 _Time Alter: Double Accel!_

As the spear slowed down, Kiritsugu grasped it. Using Reinforcement, he intentionally added an overload of prana to the spear. Though it started to explode, Kiritsugu managed to escape the inner blast radius before Time Alter wore off. Despite that, he felt the shockwave of the spear exploding.

The smoke started to clear, and Kiritsugu was surprised that the spearwoman was still standing. All of a sudden, she charged towards him, with only her fists as weapons.

Kiritsugu, able to fire upon the spearwoman now that she only had one goal and one target, fired the Contender.

The spearwoman was sent flying backwards, the momentum of the Contender's bullet suddenly stopping her charge. For a moment she staggered, barely able to stand. Then, she finally fell into the snow, her heart completely dead from the force of the impact.

Suddenly, in the distance, Kiritsugu saw a blue light shining.

It took a second for him to process that Ender was the one on the ground, facing the blue light.

In a flash, he ran as fast as he could to his old friend, using Time Alter to enhance his speed, despite the pain that the curse of Angra Mainyu was starting to lay upon him.

And Kiritsugu Emiya ran further into the abyss that the light was laid upon.

* * *

 **OK, so this got pretty long. Part 2 of this should be coming out pretty soon (maybe this week), and I'll try to fix some grammar mistakes on the Prologue tomorrow.**

 **Sorry if the flow is off. I keep switching between the VN method of storytelling, and the conventional novel method of storytelling.**

 **Please review, and thank you for reading!**


	3. Chapter 2: One Inch of Love and Shadow

**Author's Note:**

 **And part 2 is here. It got pretty long, at least for my standards. It's probably the longest chapter I've ever written, and after messing with my computer trying to play JP F/FO, I've finally gotten around to finishing this.**

 **Here's the disclaimer:**

 **I DON'T OWN ANY PART OF THE FATE SERIES. FATE BELONGS TO TYPE-MOON.**

* * *

 **Triple-Linked Crane Wings**

 **Chapter 2: One Inch of Love and Shadow**

He ran.

Running across the snow-covered fields that surrounded the Einzbern estate, Kiritsugu enhanced his body to act as a pseudo-Reality Marble.

Even with his usage of Time Alter, the fact that he had already used it twice was starting to show. Without Saber to truly waken Avalon and use its passive healing, Avalon merely served as a way to numb his pain. Every time he used Time Alter, it was like the flame that was Angra Mainyu's curse burned even brighter.

Kiritsugu had reached his peak, and the side effects had began to take hold.

In his mouth, he could taste blood. His body was completely numb, yet Kiritsugu kept running anyways.

As the blue light engulfed the homunculus' fist, Kiritsugu pulled out his Thompson Contender and aimed. Running with only one clear goal, he fired.

Though Time Alter shattered, the Origin Bullet landed straight into the homunculus' chest.

Suddenly, the blue light vanished, replaced by a choke of pain that the homunculus gasped.

"W-wha-"

Kiritsugu looked on at the Einzberns' best combat homunculus, who now staggered and convulsed due to the Origin Bullet defacing the very system that made her exist.

Ignoring the shock on Ender's face, Kiritsugu put down the smoking end of the Contender, and watched, as Praila von Einzbern, master of martial arts, and loyal servant to Jubastacheit von Einzbern, landed on the snow.

Her face of permanent shock and pain had become permanent, her blood staining the snow that she had landed upon. Her white maid attire made the contrast between her blood and the white snow even more apparent.

Ender looked on at Kiritsugu, with a moment of tense silence. Finally, Kiritsugu took the initiative.

"We're storming the front door."

Ender, about to object, silenced himself.

"I want you to detonate the grenades once I open the door. Shadow me, and then take out the magi from long-range."

Silence.

"Got it?"

Ender slowly nodded, as the two ran towards the front.

What the two never noticed was a bird familiar, comfortably perched and hidden among the snow, who returned to the study of the Old Man.

* * *

"Praila has been killed."

Silently, Jubastacheit cursed. The homunculus ignored him, and continued.

"Furthermore, the familiar found that the Magus Killer had come along with an accomplice. Given what the familiar saw, we can assume that he is of a similar background to the Magus Killer."

"And how so?"

"The familiar noted that the Magus Killer's accomplice was able to use Reinforcement to endure himself from Praila's blows. Beyond that, he seemed to be fully capable of understanding how Praila was killed."

Jubastacheit was silent. A moment passed, and the homunculus waited.

"Is there anything else you would like, Master?"

"Where is the Magus Killer going?"

"The familiar heard from the Magus Killer's conversation with the accomplice that they were preparing to storm the front doors. We have already begun preparing a defensive perimeter around the-"

More silence followed.

Then, the sound of a boot coming down upon the ground rang through the study.

"...Master?"

With a look of cold fury, the Old Man of the Einzberns looked at the homunculus.

"Get me my coat and gloves."

"...yes, Master."

Jubastacheit von Einzbern silently cursed his servants' devotion and attention to order. As Jubastacheit trudged down the stairs with a bombastic presence, he looked down upon the foyer.

With the door in tatters and a cold chill blowing through the empty space, he looked down at the one he hated the most.

"KIRITSUGU EMIYA!"

* * *

He heard the booming voice of someone who he'd previously thought of as cold and calculating, not one to immediately turn to sheer anger.

"KIRITSUGU EMIYA!"

He saw the Old Man marching down the stairs, with an expression that screamed pure rage. For a moment, Kiritsugu was tempted to forego the plan and shoot Old Man Acht right in the forehead. Instead, though, he kept his cool, and stayed silent.

The ornate axes that the maids blocking the entrances to the rest of the mansion wielded gave Kiritsugu no choice but to confront Acht.

The Old Man finally stopped at the small space which served as the stairs' midway point. A small, flat carpet was what Jubastacheit von Einzbern stood on as Kiritsugu Emiya stared at him.

As Kiritsugu intended, the Old Man spoke first.

"You _dare_ to show your face here, after ruining the dream that the Einzberns have devoted their entire lives for searching for?! You, out of all the dammed... _mongrels_ of the east, decide to make a mockery of the Einzbern name?!"

Kiritsugu was silent.

"And out of all the disgusting barbarian savages, out of every last black-haired degenerate who has ever tainted Gaia, _you_ out of all the apes decide to break into my house?!"

"I thought it was more of a surprise visit." Kiritsugu snarked.

"More importantly..."

He pulled out his Contender, and pointed it at Acht.

"Where is my daughter?"

* * *

 _The gall!_

Jubastacheit's mask of ice broke. What burned now was rage, personified into an ancient face.

"Kiritsugu Emiya, _Magus Killer_ , when you die by my hand, it will not be a quick, merciful death. It will not be a _heroic_ death, nor one of dignity. No, when I have you by the ropes, I will _break_ you."

"I will force you watch as I turn my granddaughter against you, make her hate you to the point that she can't even stand to _look_ at you. I will force you to watch her, as she tramples upon whatever... _ideals_ that compelled you to destroy the Holy Grail when victory was in your grasp." The rage had become venom.

"I will repeatedly gouge out your organs, then use restorative alchemy to heal you. Then, you will be turned into a familiar, whose sole purpose is to be the punching bag and test subject of my alchemy. And finally, when you have long since lost your lungs, your ability to even breathe by yourself, and any sense of yourself, you will die a slow, painful death that will make you curse the man that destroyed the _Holy Grail!_ "

Jubastacheit's rage had reached its peak.

"Funny. I once met a magus who had said something similar to me." Kiritsugu apathetically mused.

"I killed him."

And yet his rage grew.

* * *

"DIE!"

The word echoed through the mansion, as Acht launched every spell, every circle, every bit of offensive magecraft that could be thrown at a person within 3 seconds.

A kaleidoscope of color filled the space between the Old Man and Kiritsugu, as the spells came flying towards him.

"TODAY, YOU DIE! DIE LIKE THE WORTHLESS FILTH YOU-!"

Suddenly, the world slowed.

" _Time Alter: Double Accel._ "

* * *

Unlike many of the assassins that had tried to kill Kiritsugu, Jubastacheit was well aware of Kiritsugu Emiya's abilities.

However, in all his rage and venom that he had thrown at him, he had underestimated the Magus Killer.

And this time, he had underestimated him _fatally_.

The Origin Bullet, Kiritsugu Emiya' signature weapon that proved fatal, flew through the kaleidoscope of colors.

And unlike Kiritsugu Emiya's normal gun, the bullet flew through the sky like a rocket on a one-way destination.

As Jubastacheit von Einzbern realized this, he realized that it was too late.

He couldn't recall the flurry of spells.

He was channeling all of his prana at once.

The Origin Bullet flew through prana and ignored defense.

The Old Man of the Einzberns screamed, as the Origin Bullet impacted his heart.

* * *

The scream came to a halt.

Kiritsugu could see the Old Man in the shadows, as he coughed from the dust that had been created from the destruction of the rest of the foyer. He had barely managed to dodge most of them with Time Alter, but his body was at its physical limits, even with Avalon.

In the distance, he could see Ender shaking, mostly from the cold winter wind that now freely flowed into the mansion.

The axewomen were dead, limbs scattered through the rubble.

Old Man Acht trembled, and collapsed. Kiritsugu went to walk to him, and kneeled down.

"C-curse you..."

"I'm sorry, what?" Kiritsugu held his ear to the dying patriarch of the Einzberns.

"C-curse you...Kiritsugu Emiya..."

Kiritsugu gave a rare smile, one that was forced rather than genuine.

"I already am."

And suddenly, he reached into his coat, and pulled out his Contender once again.

The Old Man of the Einzberns shaked, then spoke his last words.

"Illyas...viel...cha...pel..."

He breathed his last, as the bullet flew through his brain.

Kiritsugu stood without motion, waiting for any traps or countermeasures that the Old Man may have set as a potential last laugh.

He waited.

And then, he moved.

The Magus Killer shook as he stepped, feeling an odd sensation of worry and doubt fighting within himself. Then, he walked down the stairs, staggering, as Ender came into the ruins of the foyer.

"There's still some maids left. I saw them gathering from the windows. They appears to be standing still, though, from the upper floors. I think they're trying to prevent you from escaping."

Kiritsugu hoarsely responded. "We need to go forward."

"Why? And where?"

A simple question, that he responded to with words that ignited a storm of stress in both his heart and soul.

"Illya...she's in the chapel."

* * *

She was cold.

Even with the barely perceptible candles behind her providing a cool comfort to her small frame, the chapel was cold.

The chapel's stained glass shone, adding a dissonant duality of light and shadow to the chapel.

Where the brightest light shone, the darkest shadow laid, waiting for a chance to strike.

Illya was huddled into a small ball of self-doubt, as the shadow spoke.

" _Dear Illyasviel._ " the shadow cooed.

"Go away." Illya muttered, barely managing to hide her feeling of frost, at the expense of proper etiquette and manner.

" _You know that Mama can't do that._ " The yellow eyes of the Black Holy Grail looked down at Illya, with a twisted, perverse love that seeked to enhance Illya's innermost doubts and fears.

"You're not Mama." Red eyes glared at Irisviel von Einzbern's corrupted form, the one incarnated by Angra Mainyu.

" _Why, that's not very nice._ "

The sweetened, honey-like tone of her voice turned into frost. " _I think you should apologize to Mama, Illyasviel._ "

Illya lashed out.

"How _dare_ you pretend to be Mama?! Mama would never tell me that Papa won't come back for me!" Red eyes welled up with tears. "Mama would never tell me that Papa doesn't love me! She-!"

" _And what makes you think that Kiritsugu would save you?_ "

The icy tone immediately cooled Illya's fiery outburst.

"I-"

" _Illyasviel, he_ abandoned _us. Just like me, he abandoned you to die. He left you with the Old Man to die. He left you to your_ destiny _._ " The personalities of 'Irisviel' and Angra Mainyu briefly became one and the same.

" _Do you want to die?_ "

"..."

Her heart started to beat.

 _I...I don't want to die. Mama...she has a point. If Papa really loved me, would he really leave me behind with Grandpa?_

 _And yet, somewhere...part of me feels like she's wrong._

 _If Papa loved me, wouldn't he come back for me?_

The candles flickered, some burning out. Distantly, sporadic gunfire rang beyond the wooden doors of the chapel. The face of the Black Holy Grail turned into a scowl.

"Who's there?!"

 _If he really loved me, wouldn't he do anything to see me again?_

The sound of gunshots rang louder, as they vibrated throughout the chapel.

 _And if he really loved me, wouldn't he save me when I'm cold?_

All of a sudden, the door to the chapel shattered.

With a smoking Thompson Contender, a myriad of slashes and wounds to his body, and an utterly exhausted body, Kiritsugu Emiya finally arrived.

* * *

Seconds passed.

No, to the Magus Killer, it was more of a matter of moments, that seemed to last for an eternity.

Kiritsugu looked out onto the place where his shattered dream had began its descent into fire.

And to the back, was Illyasviel von Einzbern and _her_.

" _You._ "

* * *

 _Papa!_

Illya's heart burst wide with emotion, with jubilee and surprise.

Just as she was about to run to him, her father spoke with a foreign tone that Illya had just withstood.

" _You._ "

Illya's eyes widened, as she saw the look of pure fury on Kiritsugu's face.

 _I-is he mad at not-Mama?_

"Ah, _Kiritsugu_. It's been an eternity since I've seen you. Have you come to talk?" 'Mama' smoothly spoke, as Kiritsugu pointed his Contender.

* * *

"You...what are you doing here?" The restraints began to loosen.

The pretender, the... _abomination_ responded Kiritsugu with a faux reply. "Oh, I just wanted to have a little bit of family time, that's all."

 _Lies, you bastard._

"It's good to see that our family has been reunited. After all," 'Irisviel' licked her lips, "it's been so long since Illya has seen her _mother_."

Kiritsugu's hands trembled.

"My wife died when the hands of Kirei Kotomine broke her neck. You are not Irisviel von Einzbern."

"You are not my wife, and you are most certainly _not_ Illyasviel's mother."

He pulled the trigger.

* * *

Even though Illya knew that that... _thing_ wasn't Mama, part of her still wanted to ask why Mama and Papa were fighting each other.

"Oh, so cruel!"

The mocking voice of 'Mama' laughed out loud, as her form receded into the shadow while the bullet flew through the air.

"To know that my husband _and_ daughter have disowned me! Oh, the humanity!"

An uncharacteristic cackle in the voice of Irisviel von Einzbern filled the chapel. The stained glass shattered, through the maelstrom of steel and shadow that filled the chapel, leaving the cold frost of the wind to blow.

'Mama' and her body nimbly moved, dodging every single bullet that Papa had fired.

All of a sudden, an explosion rocked the chapel.

As the fires began to take hold, igniting what remained of the pews, Illya tried to process what was happening.

The first thing she processed was the sheer heat of the fires.

The second thing she noticed was the icy wind biting at her, even as the fires raged.

'Mama' looked at Papa with disdain, as Illya tried to process a third detail.

"Is this the best that you can offer, Magus Killer?" 'Mama' bitterly spoke. As soon as words concluded, Papa jumped.

The third thing she took in, was the maelstrom of blades that 'Mama' and Papa had formed as they fought.

In the eye of the storm, Illya could only watch, numb.

* * *

 _Dammit!_

'Irisviel' had moved faster than even his reflexes could keep up with.

Kiritsugu, even with his iron resolve, was unable to fight the being that had corrupted and become his wife.

Had he known that he would have to seriously fight the being that he had saw in the Holy Grail after being submerged in its mud, his situation would be no different.

As Kiritsugu Emiya fired round after round of bullets, first from his Contender, and then his Calico submachine gun, he saw the final obstacle to reaching his dream.

 _Find a way._

His heart pounded.

 _But how?_

His heartbeat rose, as the dark blasts of prana shattered the pews lining the chapel.

 _Find a way._

He ran, pulse rising to a fever pitch, dodging even more of the doppelgänger's attacks.

 _But how?_

Suddenly, time stopped.

A moment of clarity was all Kiritsugu needed, before time began to flow once more.

 _Find the way._

He ran around, firing more shots at 'Irisviel' and her irritated face. She disappeared, and reformed a few meters away to the left.

For a few moments, the dust cleared. When it did, 'Irisviel' had her eyes closed, visually bored.

"You begin to bore me. I expected more of a fight out of the so-called Magus Killer."

Kiritsugu held back a quip, as he threw the grenades.

As they detonated, he hissed at the heat and force of the grenade. Launched across the chapel and landing on the wall, he braced himself.

And it did nothing.

He could feel bones shatter, ribs cracking as he fell to the floor. Even as Avalon's greatly diminished healing tried to knit and heal his wounds, he felt pure pain in his body as he tried to get up.

And looking through the smoke as it dissipated, was the unmoving, stone-cold frown on the imitation of his wife.

"Is this the best that you can offer, Magus Killer?" 'Irisviel' practically sneered.

 _Not by a longshot, bastard._

Kiritsugu moved, and quickly, he activated his trump card.

 _Time Alter-_

Angra Mainyu moved to react, holding two shortswords, as Kiritsugu glided across the empty space.

 _-Double Accel._

 _This is the only way forward._

* * *

The spirit of All the World's Evils was, to put it simply, _bored_.

He had toyed with the 'Magus Killer', and was satisfied.

Only now, it had become repetitive.

"Give up, Kiritsugu Emiya. You've already lost."

There was no semblance of Irisviel von Einzbern now. No, it was only a vessel for Angra Mainyu.

"Like hell." Kiritsugu Emiya gritted through his teeth, as he endured the pain and struggle, and kept up the fight.

"There's no point. Give up. You lose. Your dream is gone. _Drown in your ideals and die._ "

Suddenly, an emotion appeared on Kiritsugu Emiya's face that perplexed and amused All the World's Evils.

 _Resolve._

"I...I don't have any more ideals. Not after the _fire_. All I have left is a broken dream." Kiritsugu Emiya grinned painfully, as sparks flew between Angra Mainyu's swords and Kiritsugu Emiya's gun.

"I'm a hopeless man, with nothing left. I'm a hollow shell, with practically nothing left to fight for. I'm a desperate man, with a thousand regrets. But..."

The 'Magus Killer' began to overpower him, if only because he was amused as to where he was going.

"...if I only have one person to fight for, _what use is a thousand more regrets?!_ "

Kiritsugu Emiya roared, and fired his Contender.

* * *

He hurt.

 _Bones, lungs, legs, feet, arms, head, chest, heart_

The fire that began to spread from the chapel to the rest of the mansion, while not as potent as the one which had engulfed Fuyuki, had taken on similar properties to the black mud.

The chapel began to burn, as its interior changed from dull colors to vibrant orange and red. The candles had long since integrated with the cursed blaze, with the mantle having long since disintegrated.

And yet, he stood against the embodiment of All the Evils of the World, as a man endlessly running for a dream.

Behind the two, Kiritsugu could barely make out Illya's eyes, their vibrant red blending in with the fire. And as he turned back to look at Angra Mainyu, he saw the facade of Irisviel von Einzbern smirking.

"This is interesting."

The Origin Bullet had torn through 'Irisviel', which should have at the least destroyed the vessel of Irisviel von Einzbern. However, all it served to do was cause the Bullet to break, as its curse was overwhelmed by a thousand more.

"If you so desperately cling to your dream, then drown in your ideals and die."

Suddenly, All the World's Evils dropped his swords. Kiritsugu only looked on in shock, as he walked into the fire. 'Irisviel' began to disappear into the fire, the prana constituting her form disappearing into the flames.

"W-what..."

"It's obvious that I can't stop you. To be honest, this was hilarious. Who knew that someone could cling to an illusion, even when everything else shattered?" Angra Mainyu laughed, while Irisviel followed.

"I can't wait to see your daughter when _it_ starts again, Kiritsugu Emiya." A grin.

"And only when you're dead, will you realize how much of an fool you are."

Irisviel von Einzbern disappeared into the flames.

And Kiritsugu Emiya collapsed to the floor, as tears filled his eyes while he wept.

* * *

 _Everything...everything's on fire._

Illya looked numbly at the scene surrounding her. She looked up, only to see a sky of white burning in all the flames surrounding her.

 _Mama..._

* * *

 _A warm smile, turned into a twisted grin._

* * *

 _Papa..._

* * *

 _A gentle smile, turned into pure fury._

* * *

 _Why...?_

* * *

 _-the o***i* is *****-_

* * *

Words came to mind, as memories, visions, and all combined to create an incoherent scramble of thought.

* * *

 _*h* p***l**l has ***n set_

* * *

Illya's mind started to crack, as she sat, dumbstruck and completely blind, yet aware of the environment around her.

* * *

 _* h**e g***t** **** a t*****nd **sh**_

* * *

 _The swords...?_

Something about the words, incoherent and babbled as they might be, resonated deep within Illya's very being.

* * *

 _**** win** o* ***** *** ***_

* * *

 _Ah._

As Illya saw both of the shortswords falter, and fade into the flames, she finally understood.

* * *

Kiritsugu saw hell all over again.

The cursed fire, which had taken away and shattered his dream, was now threatening to destroy the last shards of what remained of that dream.

Fortunately for him, he had a drive.

He had a _purpose_.

Running from the chapel, he ran through the remains of the foyer. In the distance was Ender, standing next to a car, who was waving and yelling furiously to Kiritsugu.

"EMIYA! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"

Ignoring the bluntness of it, Kiritsugu ran as fast as he could through the snow. He trudged, holding Illya on his back as the fire and flames engulfed the Einzbern estate.

Through a few close calls and all the pain that was thankfully being partially repaired by Avalon, Kiritsugu was able to reach the car.

"Emiya! Thank God you're alright! If I left you in there, I wouldn't be able to live with myself for leaving a friend to die!"

"And I wouldn't be able to even live, because I wouldn't have a driver." Suddenly, Kiritsugu coughed up blood.

"...not gonna ask."

Ender got into the driver's seat, and motioned to Kiritsugu. "You gonna sit with your kid?"

Kiritsugu nodded, then weakly replied.

"She's been through a lot tonight."

"I can see."

A few moments of silence passed, as Ender started up the car.

Then, Kiritsugu spoke.

"...thanks Ender."

"Hm?"

Kiritsugu gave a faint smile to Ender, as he put out his hand. "I know that you probably have better things to do than this, Ender. But thank you."

Ender grinned, then shook Kiritsugu's hand.

"For a friend, who's saved me a dozen times over."

Then Ender's expression became much more sombre.

"And to a father who risked everything to save his daughter."

And in that moment, Kiritsugu finally realized that he had reached the shards of his broken dream.

* * *

 **W O W**

 **That...was really long. At least, by my standards.**

 **I was originally intending for a maid to blow up the mansion as a last resort, which would spark the fire. But this (at least for what I'm planning) works better for setting up characterization down the road.**

 **I know that having 'Irisviel' and Angra Mainyu's (or at least, the part that was Avenger in F/HA) personalities is a bit of a stretch. I also know that Angra Mainyu sparing Kiritsugu seems contrived. But honestly, if we're considering Avenger's personality, he's a dick. Also one willing to see what happens, given that he _is_ the Grail. After all, not every AU with a big divergence has to have ol' Zelretch interfere. :p**

 **Anyways, that wraps up that. There's still a chapter or two to go with Kiritsugu as a main character, but after that, it's all Illya. (Until the 5HGW.)**

 **If you have any comments or concerns, please review!**

 **Still a TYPE-n00b, so comments are appreciated!**

 **Thank you for reading!**


	4. Chapter 3: Luminosity (Part 1)

**Author's Note:**

 **School started.**

 **Sorry about the wait. Honestly, it was a combination of factors: school, violin, my new sleep schedule (thanks for having the bus arrive at 7:55 and making me wake up at 5:45), my inexperience with calm/fluffy scenes like this chapter, and a whole lot of shit.**

 **Anyways, some actual notes:**

 **RadioPoisoning: Really? Huh. I could have sworn that it was actually Angra Mainyu. It kinda leaves me in a quandary, seeing as it's already ingrained as an important plot point. I'll have to soldier on, though. For my source on AM appearing to Illya, while I'm aware it's far from the best source, it's from Illya's wiki page on Type-Moon Wikia. As I've said, I can't really change it now, given that it's important to the plot. In the future, I'm going to try and not dig myself into pitfalls and such. Thank you, though. :)**

 **On Time Alter; yeah, I freely admit I'm overestimating Time Alter's effects, especially considering that Kiritsugu is under the curse. However, he** ** _is_** **only using Double Accel, as he would have been using as his maximum prior to receiving Avalon. And don't get me wrong, Kiritsugu overworked himself past his physical limits, what with all the fighting and using Time Alter repeatedly. However, though he has much less time to work with than compared to Shirou, he has a head start in terms of Illya knowing magecraft.**

 **Off-topic, but I wanted to say thank you to everyone who's followed, favorited, and/or reviewed. WOW. I'm overwhelmed by all the support that I've been getting. Thank you guys so much! :)**

 **And now, the disclaimer:**

 **I DON'T OWN FATE. THE FOLKS OVER AT TYPE-MOON OWN FATE.**

* * *

 **Triple-Linked Crane Wings**

 **Chapter 3: Luminosity (Part 1)**

 **A FEW DAYS LATER**

When the light dawned upon the room, a pair of scarlet eyes fluttered.

The girl lulled for a while, turning and rolling in the confines of the futon.

Suddenly, the bundle of humanity surrounded by pajamas truly awoke, the girl springing up from the futon. Red eyes frantically turned back and forth throughout the room. Expecting a cold white backdrop to gaze upon once she rose, Illya instead saw black and white lines lining the room's sides.

"Huh...?"

For a second, Illya collected her thoughts.

 _Where am I?_

As she stepped, slowly moving from the futon, she froze.

* * *

 _Fire fire flame death burn perish destroy incinerate_

* * *

Memories flowed like a raging storm through her mind, overwhelming her with an endless tide of colors.

* * *

 _Ice eyes smile mama swords papa bullets everywhere no no no_

 _Gone fire burning fire cold warm flame frost all gone-_

* * *

Illya screamed.

Suddenly, footsteps came running down the hallway.

When Illya regained her bearings, a brown-haired woman suddenly appeared.

"Illya-chan! Are you alright?! Did something happen?!"

"W-what?" Illya stuttered, as the woman ran straight at her. "Ah!"

The woman embraced Illya, completely hysterical who was trying to keep what remained of her bits of composure.

"I was so worried that someone tried to kidnap you, or use you to blackmail Kiritsugu, or...!"

Illya finally regained some semblance of composure.

"I-I'm fine. Thank you...um..."

The brown-haired woman's demeanor changed in an instant.

"Oh!" she cupped her hands around her mouth, forming an O-shape. "I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?"

She proudly puffed her chest. "I'm Taiga Fujimura! The Tiger of Fuyuki, international kendo extraordinaire, and most importantly, Kiritsugu's best friend!"

Illya sweated, as the woman continued, and started to get uncomfortably close.

"And do you know what that makes me?"

"W-what, Fujimura-san?"

"Your big sister!"

She tackled Illya, diving straight into the futon.

"Eep!" Illya flailed around, as Taiga hugged and embraced her. "F-Fujimura-san! Please, let me breathe!"

Taiga pouted, as she pulled Illya closer.

"Mou~" Illya tried to pull herself out of Taiga's arms, to no avail, as Taiga pouted. "Don't be like that, Illya-chan!"

Suddenly, Taiga stopped. Just as quickly as Taiga's 'assault' on Illyasviel von Einzbern's bed began, it ended. Illya gaped, as Taiga suddenly stopped, and jumped backwards, clarity in her eyes.

"Oh! That's right, Kiritsugu!"

Taiga's expression quickly shifted to one of seriousness and concern, as the disheveled and fettered appearance of Kiritsugu came to mind. Moments passed, as Illya watched, and Taiga scrambled to find the right words to say.

Meanwhile, Illya had taken to sorting and reorganizing her ruffled sheets, with quiet resolve. Taiga quietly let her work, internally brooding.

Silence continued.

And then, the words came.

"Say, Illya-chan..."

"Hm?"

Inquisitively, Illya looked at Taiga, pausing after having smoothed the sheets of the futon.

Taiga breathed, and then asked:

"What happened to Kiritsugu?"

In that moment, Illyasviel von Einzbern froze.

* * *

Everything was frozen.

She was numb.

The winter landscape had returned.

 _I'm cold,_ a voice manifested in her mind. _I want to go home._

 _Everything_ burned.

Everything that she had come to know in her year, that had been eating away at her heart ever since Papa left and never returned, it all returned to ash and dust.

For the heiress, the Einzbern's apex of alchemy and magecraft, everything that she had been taught had burned as fast as it had arrived.

For Kiritsugu Emiya had not abandoned her.

For Kiritsugu Emiya had protected her.

For Kiritsugu Emiya, the so-called Magus Killer, the one who had betrayed the Einzberns and left Mama to die, the one who had abandoned the Holy Grail when it was in his grasp, had saved the last Einzbern.

And yet, Illyasviel von Einzbern was _cold._

In the distance, Kiritsugu Emiya laid, bleeding and on the verge of death.

To his side, 'Mama' stood, with an expression that scared the scarlet-eyed homunculus.

And from the corner, the last Einzbern looked on, as 'Mama' viciously grinned and walked into the flames, disappearing entirely.

She was cold, because she was alone, with everything that she had known, loved, or cared for broken, shattered, and destroyed.

And yet, while her vision blurred, she barely made out the half-dead form of Papa. He crawled through the flames, unscathed by the unholy fires yet brutally injured by 'Mama', as he made his way to Illya.

Her vision blurred once more, with formerly well-defined shapes turning into a handful of shapes and colors.

Despite her vision failing her, she could still feel.

She felt the cold touch of a dead man, the one of a person who had become a hollow husk and became a being driven without purpose. Despite the cold sensation, the cool feeling that almost radiated from the Magus Kill- no, _Papa's_ hand, the callused hand felt like the comfort of a warm, flickering fire coming to life in Illyasviel von Einzbern's soul.

 _Papa._

Her vision blurred, the myriad of colors slowly fading into an endless landscape of black.

And yet, as she faded into unconsciousness, she felt the gentle touch warm her, even into the void.

* * *

"Illya-chan!"

A shout pierced the ice, shattering the memory as Illya returned to reality. Blurry-eyed, her sight gradually returned, as she looked up to the face of Taiga, who only looked on with sympathy.

"Fu...Fujimura-san..."

"You fainted when I mentioned Kiritsugu. Did...did something..." Taiga suddenly held her tongue. "You don't want to talk about it, right?"

A brief, numb nod was all she needed.

"I'm sorry."

Taiga reached out her arms to hug Illya. Still dazed from the memory, Illya moved into Taiga's embrace, almost falling into it.

After a few moments, Illya spoke. Her words came in short breaths, quiet enough to hide the phantom ache that had begun to take hold throughout her mind and body.

"Fujimura-san...c-can I please get some water?"

Taiga paused for a moment. Then, she quickly nodded, beginning to leave the room.

"I...I think I'm going to go sleep for a little bit."

The student abruptly paused, then looked back at Illya. After a moment, the Fuyuki Tiger proceeded to nimbly glide through the winding hall to the kitchen.

As she left, Illya exhaled, and fell into the futon, physically and mentally exhausted. As she descended into unconsciousness, she fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

Her dreams repeated and repeated the endless void of emotions that her flashback had entailed.

Illya staggered through a vortex of confusion, filled with tinges of anger and yet loss that she couldn't comprehend. She traveled through the landscape that had once more filled with the stench and sight of smoke and flames.

Endlessly, she staggered and tried to escape the ending through the myriad of dreams that she wandered through.

Each time she had tried to stop the maid from locking the door to the cathederal, every time that she cried and shouted, kicking and screaming at the maid as she admonished her for losing her proper composure, every time that Illyasviel von Einzbern tried to defend _Papa_ from being hurt by 'Mama', she always ended in the same place.

The place where the sun never shone, where endless waves of black and shadow filled the skies and air, where ice and fire collided to create the contradiction that had warped Illya.

And yet, even in the dreams that had ended with her on the brink of death, with her heart being shattered like glass, and the horrible sights of Papa limblessly trying to crawl towards her, they had all ended with a light burning at the door of darkness.

Where the feeling of Kiritsugu Emiya had warmed her heart.

Where a feeling of cold isolation turned to silent joy.

Where his light had filled her night sky.

And where a man's steel broke an illusion of ice.

* * *

She woke up, feeling neither the distant warmth of her Papa.

Instead, she felt her right hand being gently prodded at by Taiga.

"Illya-chan, are you awake?" she softly asked.

"Y-Yes, Fujimura-san."

Taiga breathed a sigh of relief, as she suddenly tightened the grasp, nearly pulling Illya out of the futon.

"W-Wait!"

She paused, as Illya flailed around. Then, the red-eyed girl gave her question. "Where are we going, Fujimura-san?"

A moment passed, before a response came.

"We're going to go see Kiri." Her voice was uncharacteristically subdued, especially to Illya.

Suddenly, the grip became a tug, as Illya was suddenly swooped up from the futon. "Come on now, Illya-chan! Let's get ready!" The Tiger's jumpy demeanor had returned, her tug easily overpowering Illya's little body. "It's almost seven o'clock! If we don't hurry, we'll be late!"

"R-Right, Fujimura-san!"

* * *

Taiga waited for Illya to get changed, watching TV in the meanwhile. As she idyllically looked at the screen, displaying the final moments of the evening news, she thought about Illya.

She had been polite and courteous, just as Kiritsugu had described her as. However, there was something about her that seemed...

Taiga banished the final lines of thought, as she scolded herself. Illya was just a little girl! And not just that, but she was also her best friend's daughter. She found it difficult to imagine Illya as being anything other than normal.

Her mental soliloquy suddenly ended, as Illya came down the hall. Dressed in a loose (and frankly, oversized) t-shirt that was one of Taiga's old shirts, Illya slowly walked to the table.

"Are you ready, Illya-chan?"

Illya nodded. "Mmm."

Taiga got up, and began to walk with the girl, as the night began to fall.

* * *

The drive was surprisingly calm.

Despite Taiga's playful argument with the driver.

* * *

 _"Illya-chan, this is Yorosuke. He's one of my family's top bodyguards, and so long as I'm here,_ no one _will be able to land a finger on you before he smashes them with his fists!"_

 _Taiga almost jumped with sheer excitement as she said this, pointing inside the car. Despite this, Illya cowered, slack-jawed at the sight of the burly bodyguard sitting in the back row._

 _"F-Fujimura-san...h-he's huge!"_

 _"Are you doing alright, young lady?" The bodyguard's deep voice suddenly rang._

 _"Eep!" Illya shivered, running to hide behind Taiga's legs._

 _"Yoro-san!" Taiga chided. "Don't scare her like that!"_

 _Yorosuke chuckled, bashfully. "My apologies, Fujimura-chan. I forgot that I sometimes scare off the kids."_

 _Taiga ignored this. "After all, Kiri just came home with her!"_

 _Exchanging the favor, Yorosuke ignored her. "Besides, don't you scare your classmates,_ Tiger _?"_

 _Rage followed._

 _"DON'T CALL ME TIGER!"_

 _As playful banter ensued, Illya eased up, and felt a warm atmosphere fill the car._

 _Even as the car ran down the road to the hospital, a memory came to her._

 _It wasn't a memory filled with shadows or ice, nor the spikes of steel that she saw._

 _Instead, it was the scene of a daughter, mother, and father enjoying the warm, flickering flames of a distant fireplace._

 _Illya began to lightly cry, as she closed her eyes._

* * *

 **Screw it, here's the chapter.**

 **This was going to be longer but I've already put this off for too long. I really wanted to include the scene with Kiritsugu, but 2K words is still pretty good. Thank God for study hall.**

 **Got a chance to expend and practice my few forays into humor. It's a bit jarring, but I need to balance this out. After all, if this goes all the way (assuming I even get to the potential third route without jumping off the Fate train), it will be more depressing and fucked up than HF + F/Z. I guarantee that, _if_ I get there.**

 **Anyways, I hope this was OK. The dream + memory might be a little too anvilicious, but eh.**

 **Please leave a review if you enjoyed this or want to offer constructive critique!**

 **Thank you!**


	5. Chapter 4: Luminosity (Part 2)

**Author's Note:**

 **Here we go again, the same way I began.**

 **I should really start working on this more instead of playing Grand Order, but I'm working on beating Shimousa right now. Got Illya to lvl 100, though, so there's that.**

 **Also got my grades back. Made honor roll, but I'm still behind on some stuff. I'm so sorry this is late, but I've gotta finish Part 2 of Luminosity before we even get progress.**

 **Anyways, some story stuff:**

 **Everything up to the beginning of the 5HGW can be considered a prologue to the main event(s). As the plan goes, thanks to a combination of input, internal thought, and slaving over spreadsheets and profile revisions, I've made the decision to retain routes in Prismatic Illusion.**

 **Obviously, everything involving them is a practical eternity away. However, assuming everything goes to plan, I should be able to finish the Prologue by the end of the school year. Spring Break is also a possibility, but kinda hard.**

 **The following isn't explicitly concrete, but there's three (planned) routes:**

 **Touching Heaven - the Fate route parallel**

 **Echoes - the UBW parallel**

 **Silver Linings High - the HF parallel, but [SPOILERS]**

 **Long term stuff out of the way, a note about this chapter:**

 **This is gonna be long. It's gonna take a while, and cover a decent chunk of time (fic-wise). So, if you see anything off, please tell me. This is honestly the second-longest piece I've ever written, and the highest quality one that I've ever done.**

 **Thank you for reading, and here's the disclaimer:**

 **I DON'T OWN FATE. THE FOLKS OVER AT TYPE-MOON OWN FATE AND ALL RELATED PROPERTIES.**

* * *

 **Triple-Linked Crane Wings**

 **Chapter 4: Luminosity (Part 2)**

 _Beep._

The heart monitor pulsed.

 _Beep._

In the hospital bed, Kiritsugu Emiya was quietly laying down, a distracted yet contemplative expression lining his face.

As he looked towards the white wall, plainly and offhandedly acknowledging that it was there as the dim lighting contrasted with the pitch black of the night, he thought about what he had just done.

It had all started with the damned fire.

The Einzberns.

The Holy Grail.

All of it, all of the machinations, plots, and secrets that comprised the 4th Holy Grail War had lead to the deaths of hundreds by a being of pure evil that no one could comprehend, much less touch.

Not one hero of the past, or a 'superhero' of the present had come close.

Even as the monitor's pulse heightened, a tangible response to thought, he still idled, his arms remaining oddly calm in the casts that they were placed in. Looking out to his right, he saw the night coming down over Fuyuki. Beyond, in the distance, the faraway skylights and sights of the towering buildings lit the night, with flashes and flickers of white light dotting the landscape.

For a moment, Kiritsugu wandered from his brooding to imagine.

He imagined himself in his halfhearted glance, idyllicly imagining a life without following the dream. A picture came to mind, that of a quiet man, one with the same build and face as Kiritsugu, pausing to look through the crowded streets, at all the faces that lined the crowd.

And yet, the face that the man donned, despite their similar expressions, neutral thought thinking about every facet of a situation, was void of any sign of age, anything that showed the stresses that the dream had taken Kiritsugu.

The trickle of imagination furthered, as he pictured- no, _felt_ the brief tug of his right leg by a small figure. When the man looked down, he looked into the wide, happy eyes of his daughter.

 _"Papa!"_

The red-eyed girl laughed, as the man descended, to meet with his daughter.

 _"I was looking for you everywhere with Mama! We tried to look for you at the store, at the..."_

Kiritsugu silently shed tears, as his fantasy began to blur.

" _Kerry..._ "

 _So this is the dream...?_

" _Kerry...!_ "

 _That I-_

"KIRI!"

His thoughts snapped, as Kiritsugu turned to look at the door.

In the doorstep stood the daughter of a yakuza boss, and his daughter.

He blinked, as Taiga rushed in.

"I brought Illya-chan over!" The girl's energy began to fade, as she saw that the room's lights were mostly turned off. "Here, do you want the lights on?"

Kiritsugu nodded, prompting Taiga to turn on all of the switches at once, with a quick motion.

He winced, as the transition surprised him. Blinking once again, he looked back at his colleague's daughter, with a blank expression on his face.

"Better?"

"Thank you, Miss Fujimura."

Taiga's face began to form a pout. "Oh, don't be so formal, Kiri! Just call me Taiga!"

"My apologies, Miss Fujimura."

"Kiri!"

"H-Hello, Papa..."

The quiet voice surprised both Taiga and Kiritsugu, as they moved slightly to look at Illya, Taiga moving back so that Illya could come up to Kiritsugu himself.

His daughter's usually pale face held a brief, rosy tiny, as her vibrant eyes contrasted with the empty gaze that Kiritsugu donned. In conflict, her scarlet eyes pierced through Kiritsugu's dull gaze, letting a feeling other than emptiness or pain fill his body.

"Papa...are you OK?"

"Yes, Illya."

The question was innocent.

"Are you sure?"

It was innocent enough.

Kiritsugu's voice began to fill with flickers of affectionate warmth.

"I'll be alright, Illya. Don't worry about me."

"OK then, Papa."

Illya began to slowly step around the tangled mess of wires, IVs, and machinery that Kiritsugu was surrounded by and attached to.

"Wow! Papa, what's this?"

"That's a computer."

"How about this?"

"That's another computer."

The awe on Illya's face and her sheer excitement and curiosity reminded him of...her.

Illya laughed, weaving and looking through all of the wires, while Taiga saw the look on Kiritsugu's face. To her, it was foreign, almost uncharacteristic.

"Kiri, are you sure you're OK?"

A yelp failed to dissuade the two from their conversation, as Illya briefly stopped, falling on the ground after tripping on the wire connecting the remote to the TV.

"Mm." He nodded, still staring at Illya, who had gotten up and began to run again. As Taiga looked into his blank eyes, she could see that what-no, whoever he was thinking about was something he was unwilling to talk about.

"Miss...Taiga."

The name rolled off of his tongue like something that had been practiced, yet faltered as it was said. His tone surprised the student, as he turned to look at her, both now staring into each others' eyes. Before Taiga could answer, Kiritsugu continued.

"Can I ask you a favor?"

"What?"

Kiritsugu breathed.

"Can you take Illya home?"

"What?"

Now Taiga was truly surprised.

"For what? Visiting hours aren't even over, and we've only been here for-"

"We need to talk." Kiritsugu stated, plainly. "You, me, Raiga, about Illya."

Suddenly, Taiga saw the look in his face change. His hollow eyes, contemplative and longing just a few minutes ago, had steeled themselves, with his face matching the shift from idle to serious.

She recognized it. It was the expression that her father had when something serious had happened, something that could threaten his business as a whole.

It was the one that was made of steel determination.

"Can you do that for me?"

Taiga silently nodded, then turned to look at Illya. She was still looking throughout the room, but had moved on from the wires towards a different place.

"Illya-chan! It's time to go!"

As she expected, Taiga saw Illya running back towards her, as if she was her mother.

"I'm coming!"

She returned straight to Taiga, both of them embracing one of their hands each.

"Fujimura-san, can we see Papa tomorrow?"

Taiga tried to lighten her mood by comforting Illya, as she stroked her hand throughout her long, white hair.

Soothingly, she responded. "We'll see."

As the two began to leave, Kiritsugu pictured Illya's expression of pure joy from earlier, as the two interacted. Yet, in his mind's eye, he could see the image of _her_ smiling right beside her, waving alongside Taiga and Illya.

Inwardly, he cursed the Einzberns for his mirage. However, as the illusion of Irisviel von Einzbern disappeared, a lone tear appeared in his right eye.

 _So this..._

The door closed, with all its shadows returning to what he had looked at before they arrived. The dim lighting would turn off in a few minutes, but the distant skyline still shone to his right, in the distance.

 _...so this is the dream, Iri?_

* * *

About an hour later, Taiga returned, with her father in tow.

Dressed in a simple suit, the old man walked into the room, accompanied by Taiga with her hand pulling him in. As the light came on with Taiga letting go of his hand, Raiga Fujimura, the primary boss of Fuyuki's yakuza, moved towards Kiritsugu.

"Good evening, Raiga. It's good to see that my daughter is in safe hands." Kiritsugu shifted slightly in bed, moving right to face Raiga, who had begun to sit down in the chair beside him.

"Thank you, Taiga, for escorting her home."

"O-Oh, y-you're welcome!" Taiga blushed furiously, partially due to being honored at the response that she had garnered.

"And thank you, Raiga, for the guard detail."

"It's no problem." Raiga smiled, as he sat down. "After all, it's the least I could do."

Kiritsugu nodded, as the atmosphere shifted from casual conversation to the topic of discussion.

"So, Illya..."

Kiritsugu idled during his verbal sustain, as he thought.

"Right, your daughter." Raiga immediately clasped his hands.

"She's been... _forcibly_ absent from me or her mother's care for more than a year." Kiritsugu grit his teeth as he said this. "When I came to pick her up, she was emotionally traumatized. Thanks to my wife's family basically kidnapping her and other circumstances that will remain private, she's been...warped, in some kind of way."

"I don't know the exact details, but during my confrontation with the head of her mother's family, she was reluctant to leave. It was only with the intervention of a colleague that I was able to convince her to come with me."

It was a well-placed misdirection which told the facts, but refused to yield the context or specifics.

"Even then, he had placed several traps designed as fail-safes in the case that he was killed. By the end of the rescue attempt, the entire mansion had burned down, with me sustaining several injuries that were a result of me trying to escort Illya out of the fire, and Illya seeing her entire world fall apart."

"Taiga told me that she blacked out earlier twice."

Taiga nodded, feeling very small in the bigger picture as Kiritsugu continued.

"I'm worried for her. I've recovered from the aftermath of the Fire, but she's a different case altogether." Kiritsugu paused, letting Raiga soak the words in. "She takes a lot after her mother, Raiga. Kind, cheerful, one hell of an iron will.."

"...but she's still young." Kiritsugu nodded, Raiga finishing his thoughts.

"I think you understand what our situation is, Raiga."

"I believe so." The head of the Fujimuras shifted in his seat. "If I understand correctly, you're asking if we can take care of your daughter, right?"

"You've got the circle, but not the point." Raiga almost snorted at Kiritsugu's mild sarcasm. "But yes, that's what I'm asking for."

Silence followed as both the men and Taiga thought in quiet contemplation.

Then, Taiga spoke, unusually timid in tone.

"Kiri...I could take care of Illya if you'd like."

Kiritsugu thought, as Raiga began to speak.

"That seems like an good solution. From what I've heard from my Taiga here, she and your daughter have gotten along very well."

"But in the end, it's up to you, Kiritsugu."

Moments of speechless quiet followed the two's commentary.

Finally, the black-haired man spoke up.

"I accept."

Taiga almost jumped, as Kiritsugu finished.

"But there's a catch." Taiga deflated instantly. "Fortunately, though, we won't have to worry about it for the forseeable future."

The Tiger of Fuyuki brightened up once more, as Kiritsugu and Raiga began to conclude their conversation.

"Alright then, Kiritsugu. We have a deal." Raiga motioned towards the door. "It's time to go back to Kiritsugu's house, Taiga. Illya's waiting for you."

"Right, Gramps!" Taiga eagerly nodded, as the two began to leave.

Kiritsugu faintly smiled, as he watched the two wave goodbye.

"See you tomorrow, Kiri! I hope you get better!"

"Get well, Kiritsugu. I hope that we can go out hunting once you've been released!"

"Thank you."

As the door closed once more, this time, for the night, Kiritsugu closed his eyes, as he drifted off to sleep.

 _Thank you, Fate._

* * *

 **OhGodImsosorryforthewait**

 **Yeah, it's shorter than I wanted. In fact, I'll probably combine the chapters pretty soon. Just trying to get some base plot development out.**

 **I know it might seem like Taiga's a bit OC, but HA fluff this ain't. Also probably fucked up Raiga's voice and personality but I don't know.**

 **By the way, I'm still waiting for the Prillya rerun. I need Chloe dammit**

 **Hope you enjoyed (part 2) of the chapter!**

* * *

 **11/20/17 NOTE ABOUT NEXT UPDATE:**

 **Next update's gonna take a while (expect early to mid-December). I'm sorry that this isn't an update, but I wanna get it out before Thanksgiving.**

 **Anyways:**

* * *

 **Please leave a review if you enjoyed this or want to offer constructive critique!**

 **Thank you!**


	6. Chapter 5: Midnight, Midday

**Author's Note:**

 **I'm sorry this is so late please forgive me**

 **Finals was meh. Straight Bs everywhere but World History make my parents disappointed (and being Asian is so fun sometimes yay)**

 **I should really stop playing FGO as much as I am right now. This summer is not going to be fun, and I want to work on this as much as I can heading forwards.**

 **Storywise:**

 **This is going to be interesting. It's a style I've never tried, but I'll try and see how it goes. I was going to write a 10K update, and then I realized that I was a month behind schedule.**

 **Think of this as Part 1 of Illya's first day. I might combine chapters later, but I wanted to get this out.**

 **I feel like I'm fucking up interactions. If you notice me doing this, please comment in a review.**

 **To the disclaimer!**

 **I DON'T OWN FATE. THE FOLKS OVER AT TYPE-MOON OWN ALL FATE-RELATED PROPERTIES.**

* * *

 **Triple-Linked Crane Wings**

 **Chapter 5: Midnight, Midday**

The year wore by, bit by bit.

The seasons came, with fall turning to winter as the air cooled, winter turning to spring as the cherry blossoms bloomed, and spring returning to summer once more with the equinox's arrival.

Kiritsugu Emiya had returned home after his brief stint in recovering from the injuries suffered during the raid on the Einzbern mansion. Despite the horrendous injuries he incurred from his fight against All the Evils of the World, along with the curse he suffered as a result of rejecting the corrupted Grail, he came home, just as stone-faced as he was when he had left.

However, something was different.

While his daughter could tell that something had changed, she could only feel that something had shifted, that a small part within him had shifted ever so slightly from his two-faced persona between work and family to a single parent.

Taiga, even in her youthful cheer and force of personality, noticed the shift in his mood.

* * *

 _"He~y Kiri! How are you doing today?"_

 _"I'm doing well, Taiga." A smile. "Thank you."_

 _"Aw, thanks!"_

* * *

Yet even with his shift in his mood, something was missing.

Something that would distract both Taiga and Illya from his wellbeing, well-intentioned as it was, was needed. He could feel the curse of regret beginning to grow within him, dripping like a leak of red and black mud into the rest of his body. Even with Avalon's (incredibly reduced) effectiveness, the curse would inevitably overtake him.

And he would fail to save the one person he had left worth saving, if he didn't try to truly be the father he once pretended to be to Illya.

It was this drive that he had, smaller in scope as it was, that prompted him to ask her a question one night.

* * *

"School?"

Illya paused while grabbing a spoonful of rice, considering her father's question. Then, she chewed the thought as she slowly began to move the spoon towards her bowl.

"What's that?"

She heard her father sigh, muttering under his breath.

"Ah, I forgot."

Illya walked back to sit down after getting her rice, with Kiritsugu trying to explain what a school was.

"It's...think about it like this. It's a place where you meet other people that are your age, and you spend the day with them."

"You mean like you and Mama on that one time you left me with-"

"Not exactly." Illya took the time to take a sip of green tea.

"See," Kiritsugu motioned, "you go to school to learn."

When Kiritsugu said the last word, he saw Illya barely flinch. Her voice wavered, as she timidly asked:

"...learn?"

Inwardly, he cursed the Old Man.

"People go to school to learn about the world. How it works, what's out there, how to live in it." Illya began to relax as he said this. "Most people learn how to read, write, and do math, and then they're ready for their life afterwards."

"But here, you have the opportunity to learn a lot more."

Kiritsugu added a spread of his hands around the room to emphasize his point.

"How so?" Illya asked, now curious.

"Here, there's a lot of topics in school besides the ones I mentioned. History, Science, along with many others. You might like some of them. You might dislike some of them. But even the ones that might seem boring can be incredibly useful later in life."

"You're sounding more like an old geezer!" Illya teased, with Kiritsugu continuing his explanation. "You're not _that_ old! Besides, you'll be here for a while longer, right Papa?"

His heart winced as Illya asked this. Yet, he chose to continue.

"Along the way, you'll meet some people. You might like some, you might dislike some."

"But in the end, it's the experience that matters."

Kiritsugu's face changed from contemplation to a serious, yet caring look. Illya began to listen, her thoughts slowing down to hear Kiritsugu's somewhat hollowed voice.

"Illya. I want you to know that I care about you. Your mother, she never saw the outside world until it was too late to truly enjoy. Yet she enjoyed every single moment that she could while she was still here."

He breathed, shifting where he knelt.

"When we came to Fuyuki 2 years ago, Irisviel was excited beyond belief. Even the small details of modern society were amazing to her, things that we take for granted."

"She had read about the world, watched movies, and knew what to expect. But when she actually experienced the world firsthand, it was a completely different experience."

He paused for a brief moment, then asked:

"Do you remember when me and your mother left to come here, and we tried to look for acorns?"

Illya shook her head. "I remember that you and Mama left, but I don't remember what happened."

Kiritsugu continued. "There was a...woman, who was with us at the time. She came with us to Fuyuki."

"And even though both were unaccustomed to Fuyuki - no, the world in general, together, they enjoyed their time together."

"I couldn't understand at the time how much that meant to her, but-"

Nearly on the verge of breaking down, he steeled himself, and turned to face Illya.

"It's the fact that I never understood how much seeing the world meant to your mother that made me realize how much it might mean to you."

"You might still be young, but you have the opportunity to see the world, and get used to it. Irisviel would have been proud of you, for understanding the world she had only had a taste of experiencing."

"I know you might not be comfortable with the idea right now, Illya."

He slowly placed his hand on top of hers, gently showing his affections and the little love he could express.

"But my wish is for you to be happy."

As he finished, the room was silent. Not a sound could be heard, inside the Bounded Field put into place around the residence. Nothing, not even the subtle rustling of leaves could break the silence that Kiritsugu's words had imposed.

Kiritsugu's face was serene, almost donning a smile. To Illya, it was a happy expression, something that, despite her Papa's hands being rough and callused, showed his love for her.

The room laid silent, as she thought about what her father had just said. Her eyes looked down at the table, subtly avoiding looking at Kiritsugu, yet not completely shunning him.

"...is that what Mama really would have wanted?"

Not accusative.

"Yes, Illyasviel."

The near-smile remained.

"...then I'll do it."

She suddenly sprang up from the table, rising from her contemplation in kneeling to stand.

"If Mama would be happy, then I'll do it."

Kiritsugu finally smiled.

"Then that settles it."

* * *

The year wore by, bit by bit.

It had been decided, with Kiritsugu's proposal, Taiga's acceptance, and Illya's agreement, that she would go to school at the beginning of the first term of the next year.

She was already decently knowledgeable, at least for someone her age. Even holed up in the Einzbern mansion so far away in Germany, she had learned much about the world.

Now, it was time to make use of it.

The cherry blossoms bloomed once more.

* * *

Lazily, Illya yawned, as she slowly rolled out of the futon. The morning was chilly, but not cold, though Illya felt the floor grow frigid as she began to walk through the wooden hallway.

The sunrise had already passed, its initial rays of light giving way to a wide array of accented shadows lining the yard outside. Quietly, she stepped towards the kitchen, unwilling to accidentally wake up her father before breakfast was ready.

She reached for the refrigerator's handle. Taking out 3 eggs and some butter, she promptly closed the door.

As she prepared the eggs, she waited for her Papa to trudge towards the low table.

All of a sudden, she heard the yell of a certain tiger.

" _Morning, Illya-chan~~!_ "

"Wha-?"

Illya barely avoided Taiga's embrace, her instinct guiding her to dodge.

"Gah!" The Tiger of Fuyuki began to rise, moving towards Illya. "Nee-san, what are you-?"

She suddenly felt her body being gripped in a vice between Taiga's strong arms.

"It's finally that day~!" Taiga cheered, as Illya tried to escape her grasp.

"Nee-san, I-"

"Oh, I'm so excited! Aren't you, Illya-chan~?" Taiga began to stretch out her cheeks.

 _You do know I'm not eight years old anymore, right?_

Illya tried to respond clearly, to no avail, as Taiga continued.

Suddenly, the two heard the smoke detector going off.

Silence followed, before Illya yelped, looking towards the kitchen.

"The eggs!"

* * *

Fortunately for the two and Kiritsugu, who had been woken up by the smoke detector's alarm after Illya had attempted to salvage the eggs, Illya was ready to cook.

The two sat around the table, watching curiously as Illya cooked once more, now with full focus.

Illya had taken up cooking as a hobby in the time between her arrival in Fuyuki and the present. While she was progressing slowly, her cooking was more than enough to satisfy Taiga and Kiritsugu.

Even if it was simple, seeing her Papa and onee-san happy made her mood all the more happy.

"Uwaa~" Taiga munched down the rest of her food, with Kiritsugu and Illya chewing slowly. "You've gotten better, Illya-chan!"

"Ah, t-thank you nee-san..."

Blushing slightly at Taiga's compliment, Illya began to finish her own food.

As she did so, Kiritsugu set aside his bowl and finished chewing.

"This is good, Illya. Thank you for the meal."

Neutrally said, he began to rise. "I need to get something for Illya, Taiga. Can you help her while I'm doing that?"

Taiga nodded, as Kiritsugu gingerly walked down the hallway. Once he had disappeared from view, she looked towards Illya, who was frozen where she sat, looking at her plate.

Worried, she tried to grab her attention.

"Illya-chan? Are you OK?"

"...Papa was happy."

Illya's expression had entered what Taiga knew as Kiritsugu's usual, empty face. Taiga didn't know what it was exactly that brought it on, but she could tell that Kiritsugu was hiding something. Unwilling to pry, however, she inched away from doing so. All she knew was that Illya had suffered some kind of trauma along the way to Fuyuki.

Immediately, Taiga went to go towards Illya, to try and snap her out of her trance.

"Illya-chan, you don't have to think that. Kiri is always happy when he sees you." After stroking Illya's long hair, she took her into a tight hug.

"Besides, today's just for you!"

"Eep!"

"So, let's get ready!"

* * *

The Homurahara Academy uniform was something completely foreign to Illya.

Sure, she was used to the concept of dresses and coats. Even in seclusion, the Einzberns acted the part of nobility and the pomp that came along with it. Her former dresses back in Germany may have been long gone, but she could barely remember the looks and appearance of her clothes, along with her mother's.

A uniform, on the other hand, was a completely different story.

Getting the uniform on was easy enough, with Taiga's help. That wasn't the problem, though.

The problem was the nigh-alien appearance of Illya's uniform as she looked into the mirror.

"Nee-san! I-I...I can't wear this!"

Taiga tried to calm her down, as Illya began to panic.

"It's just a school uniform, Illya-chan. You'll get used to it by the end of the week."

"But it's too hot and itchy everywhere..."

"Relax." Taiga stroked her hand through the white hair of her 'little sister'. "Now, breathe in."

Illya followed along.

"Then breathe out."

Illya exhaled, prompting Taiga to talk again. "It may be uncomfortable at first, but you'll get more comfortable as time goes on."

She pointed to a picture that was lying near the doorway.

"See that? That's me when I was in school!" The white-haired girl listened, interested in hearing more.

"To be honest, when I was your age, I hated those uniforms." Taiga's eye began to twitch. "Personally, I think the boys' jacket felt more comfortable then all the stuff we had to wear."

A moment of silence ensued, before a sound came to either of them.

Suddenly, she clapped her hands.

"Regardless!" She looked back at Illya, energy bursting through her voice. "My experience should be a great life lesson to you, Illya-chan!"

"Yeah?" Illya asked, excitedly.

"Even if you're hampered by something, you should always continue on!"

Illya's mood dropped like a rock.

"That doesn't help me a lot, nee-san..."

"Hm?" From the midst of her 'wise sage mode' (as she'd call it), she noticed Illya, who moped downwards.

Then, she realized her error.

"Ah!" Taiga sprang back up again. "What I meant to say is, that even if something blocks your way, you should never lose sight of the true goal!"

"But how?"

"In your case, Illya-chan, it's going to school!" The brown-haired woman pointed towards the doorstep. "If you want to make Kiri happy, then you should go to school! If you don't want to make Kiri happy, then you can stay home!"

"...huh."

Illya began to think about it. _Even if I'm not happy...if doing something makes Papa happy, then that's..._

"Besides, he's thinking about you too, Illya."

Taiga was now in her true 'big sister mode'. Soothingly, she spoke.

"It's your big day. He wants you to go out and see other people, but you already know that, don't you?"

"Mmhm." She nodded.

"So go out there and have fun!" With a short, yet powerful push, Taiga pushed Illya towards the doorstep.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, as Illya tried to escape her daze, Taiga bolted out the door with her bag, in haste.

"Oh no no no! I'm gonna be late!"

In the distance, her 'older sister' waved. "I'll see you later, Illya-chan!"

"Bye!"

As the gust of air faded away, Illya sighed.

Finally, it was time to go to school.

* * *

She walked down the street, mindfully perceptive of her surroundings. While the cold air swept across her face and her body, the lack of a wind helped to stop her from shivering under the rising morning sun. Crossing from street to street, and road to road, she stepped.

On one of the many streets that lead to Homurahara Academy, a bird caught her eye. For a second, Illya watched with interest, slowing down, as the bird flew around the sun, choppily ascending until it reached its perch.

It was at this moment of distraction that Illya walked straight into someone else.

"Ah!"

A flurry of papers flew out of the other person's hands like a flock of birds, as Illya regained her bearings. It took only a moment before she began to profusely apologize.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there! I-"

The girl, Illya had finally registered, stopped her with her hand. Then, silently, she began to pick up the scattered papers, the bystanders who had originally saw the incident beginning to walk away down the ends of the street.

"Um..." Illya nervously began. "D-Do you need any help, miss-"

The girl stopped her collection, pausing as if she was thinking. Then, slowly but subtly, she nodded, the sun finally shining on her hair.

As the girls picked up papers, both remained quiet, even in the midst of Illya passing papers to the other. Both of them kept to silence, eventually whittling down the intially large spread of the scattered papers into a single, if ruffled pile.

When they had finished, the other girl bowed to Illya, and began to walk down the street.

As she walked, Illya finally regained her perception, and noticed her clothing. It was a near-mirror image of her own, except with long streams of black hair flowing out from her back unlike Illya's own white, and the pair of glasses that sat nested on her nose.

For whatever reason she had, she began to run to catch up to the girl.

"Hello!"

The girl turned to look at Illya, peering back to her left. Illya held onto her backpack, bashfully rubbing her head.

"Um...I was wondering, but...are you going to Homurahara Academy?"

"Yes, I am." The first time she had heard the girl talk. Her voice felt empty, hollow, as if there were wisps of wind held on every word she spoke. "And I presume that you are, too."

"Right! Uh..."

Illya's body trembled with nervousness. Beyond Taiga and some token interactions around Fuyuki, she had never interacted with anyone her age, let alone another girl that was her age.

"..."

"..."

The two were silent, returning to the status quo of quietness.

In seconds, it was broken with another shock.

"You don't have to apologize. It's my first day. I should be apologizing to you for the inconvenience that I may have caused." The girl smiled, for no apparent reason. It was as if the entire incident was intentional.

Illya responded almost immediately. "No, no! I should apologize to you for making you late and...and..."

She trailed off, as she looked at the girl's watch.

"...w-what time is it?" Illya nervously asked, beginning to sweat at the thought of being late on her first day of school.

The girl's expression returned to a completely neutral face, almost as if it were made of stone. She looked at her watch for a second, before she took off her glasses, with smile returned.

"Just enough time to run to class and get there before 8 o'clock."

The girl began to run, entering something akin to a full sprint.

"W-Wait!"

Illya began to run once more. In seconds, she had caught up with the other girl, on the paved paths leading towards the school.

* * *

As quickly as the race (if it could be called that) began, it ended as soon as both of the girls had sprinted at full speed through the gates of the school.

"Wait...where are you going?!" Illya shouted, with only her adrenaline keeping her from keeling over and falling.

As the two ran up the stairs, the other girl replied.

"The fifth floor, first room to the left!"

Even though she had begun with a confident smile, the black-haired girl was beginning to show signs of exhaustion. Despite her condition, though, the papers that she had been carrying ever since they had collected them stayed in place, failing to stray or blow away from their carrier's embrace.

Four flights of stairs later, the two ran into the classroom, sore and physically exhausted.

All of the conversations that had been taking place stopped immediately as they walked in. Both recognized the looks of surprise and subsequent murmurs between the other students that greeted them, as the two limped to their desks.

Five seconds after doing so was the point at which the bell rang.

The classroom turned silent, just as it had under a minute ago. And yet, five seconds passed.

Not a single word.

Ten seconds.

Not a single sound.

Fifteen seconds-

" **I'M COMING!** "

-and the Tiger of Fuyuki had arrived, proceeding to trip on the ground and fall onto the floor face first.

Never had anyone in the classroom see anyone's face show so much emotion within a single expression, at the moment Illya saw her 'older sister' trip on the ground. A kaleidoscope of surprise, followed by realization, and then finally shock followed, as the red-eyed girl let her setting sink in.

"..."

"..."

"...should we do something?"

A wave of murmurs swept through the entire classroom, until someone spoke up.

"We could try to wake her up."

Nods of acceptance followed.

"OK, then." The student walked forward, and prodded Taiga's head.

"Hey, Taiga-sensei."

The Tiger's hand twitched.

"Taiga-sensei..."

Her other hand twitched.

"Maybe one more time, to be on the safe side?"

"Taiga-"

" **DON'T CALL ME TIGERRR!** "

All of a sudden, the student that had tried to wake the sleeping Tiger up rose, and launched a punch at the 'offender'. They had had no time to dodge, before they keeled over, and whimpered as the so-called homeroom teacher rose.

"Let that be a lesson to you all!" Taiga roared. "Nobody calls me Tiger!"

"Ah, Fujimura-sensei...that's your...uh..." someone stuttered, still in shock over their homeroom teacher's show of force.

"Hm?" The teacher looked at her, and realized what had happened.

"Oh, um..."

The unfortunate student silently walked back to where her seat was, holding her side as she sat down.

"I...suppose it's time to begin!"

And the first morning of Illya's school life had begun.

* * *

Lunchtime came earlier than expected. To Illya's eyes, the morning had passed swiftly, but her experiences gained made up for the time she lost track of.

Slowly, as she left the classroom, she walked to the stairs just next to the room, and began to climb the steps to the rooftop.

Students came and passed, but as she ascended, the amount of students she saw plummeted. As she walked up the final steps to the door leading to the rooftop and grasped the doorknob, she expected a clear view of the city in the distance.

The door opened, and Illya gasped.

The view was incredible. A cloudless sky formed a beautiful ceiling of light blue and warming sun far above her vision. She looked up, and saw a perfect view.

"Wow...!"

The red-eyed girl witnessed the mundane beauty of life. To the ones who lived it, mundane was just that. But to the foreign, another 'world' and its mundane was exotic and unfamiliar, a way of life that was intriguing and fascinating.

"You really are odd."

"Eep!"

Her immersion was broken by the sight of a black-haired girl.

A _familiar_ black-haired girl.

"W-Wait, when did you get up here?"

"About a minute ago." The girl's blank expression was back. "I was looking around the school and noticed you staring into the distance."

"...anyways, I-"

"May I..."

A look came to her face, something that Illya found hard to identify. It was an expression of...nervousness? Embarassment?

"...may I eat lunch with you up here?"

Illya balked instantly.

"Wha-wha-wha-what?!"

The black-haired girl quickly shut her eyes, clutching her lunch in her hands as she began to briskly walk back towards the door. "I'm sorry for troubling you, then."

"Wait!"

Illya's hand was stretched forwards. The girl looked back, pensive.

"D-Don't be sorry..." Illya motioned towards herself with her hand. "It was just...really sudden..."

The other girl began to walk back towards Illya. "I didn't mean to make it sound like I didn't want to be with you or anything."

Suddenly, Illya bowed down on the ground.

"I'm sorry for being impolite and inconsiderate to you!"

Amber eyes widened.

"...um..."

Then, they softly narrowed with a playful grin.

"I guess that means we're equal, then."

"...right."

* * *

The two of them sat on the roof, quietly eating their lunches.

It didn't take long before a conversation began.

"So..."

"Hm?" The amber-eyed girl paused, her hand frozen in the act of picking out rice with her chopsticks.

"Where do you live?"

After a brief moment, she swallowed, and replied.

"I live in Miyama. Near the shopping district, actually. Though, my parents aren't exactly rich or anything."

She paused for a moment.

"The house is comfortable, if a little bit small."

"But it's nice having a home."

As she began to eat again, she stopped.

"How about you?"

"Oh, I..."

Illya thought for a second.

"I live in Miyama, too, actually!"

"Hm." The other girl nodded, as she chewed.

"Though...it's a little further away."

"Hm?"

"Yeah. It's closer to the sea, but a little close to the shopping district."

"Hmm." The amber-eyed girl, finally finished with her lunch, began to think, as she hummed.

"I don't think I ever asked you what your name is."

"Huh?"

Suddenly, she realized the meaning of her question. "Ah!"

Nervously, she bowed.

"I-I'm Illyasviel von Einzbern, but y-you can call me Illya for short!"

"..."

The other girl's face was blank.

"...you had that rehearsed, right?"

Illya blushed furiously, embarassed at her hesitation.

"Don't worry, you don't have to be that formal." A warm smile donned the other girl's face.

"B-But..."

"Here, this is how I do it."

The other girl bowed, though in a casual way that was devoid of any feelings of being automatic.

"Nice to meet you."

She raised out her hand, reaching out.

"I'm Miyu Aoki."

* * *

 **And this is where Miyu comes in.**

 **Before you ask, this is not Prillya!Miyu. While some of the core aspects of her should remain the same, she's not the same person.**

 **Part 2 should be coming soon. If you want specific updates on the story status, check my profile.**

 **Please leave a review, whether it be something you enjoyed or constructive criticism!**


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